Sakuragaoka Institution
by Miznotch
Summary: Mio makes her way to the Sakuragaoka Institution with depression and anxiety disorder. How will she be able to cope with her new life in the hospital? And will she be able to make friends there?
1. Chapter 1

**Sakuragaoka Hospital**:

"Ma'am, your daughter needs to be placed in our Psychological Children Institution immediately," the nurse told Mio's mother.

Upon hearing this, Mio started to breathe heavily and her fingernails automatically looked for her skin to scratch.

_I can't do this. _Mio thought as she began to scrape her left arm.

"Mio," her father placed his hand on his daughter's arm. "Stop it."

Mio looked at her father with a frightened expression.

"It'll be alright, we're just taking precaution," Mr. Akiyama said. "It'll be alright." Although he was never the caring type towards Mio, he was trying his best to be attentive.

Mio began to shake as the cold air seeped through her hospital gown. Her eyes widened at the sight of the electric bed with buckles and belts.

"Mio, dear," her mom had been crying by the way her eyes puffed up. "It's time to go."

Mio nodded, slowly getting up from the hospital bed and touching the cold floor with her bare feet. She cringed at the coldness but tried to keep herself maintained, although it was too late for that. The three nurses helped her get in the electric bed. As she lay down, they buckled her and tightened it so she wouldn't fall down.

"It'll be a short ride, miss," the nurse told Mio with pity in her eyes. Mio looked away and began to tear up.

_This isn't supposed to happen. _She said to herself.

The nurses slowly pushed the electric hospital bed out the door and into the ambulance. Mio shivered as the cold air imperishably gusted through her oversized gown. The door of the ambulance slammed and she cringed once again. Terrified. The ambulance started wailing, disrupting the stillness of the night, as they move her to Sakuragaoka Institution. It was a short ride, not enough for Mio to think about the mistake she made upon telling her parents about her newly fresh, ripe scars on her upper arms.

The bitter air visited her gown once they opened the door and moved her into the Institution. It was as cold inside as it was outside, as Mio tried not to shiver so much.

"Don't worry, you'll be able to change once you're admitted," the other nurse said cheerfully, trying to have some optimistic affect on her. But he failed miserably, as Mio gulped down her tears. The nurses unbuckled her and helped her get down the electric bed.

She saw three other girls sitting on chairs along the hallway, with their eyes down, avoiding any eye contact. Mio felt bad for them as she realized that soon, she was going to sit with them, waiting to be admitted.

Her parents came through the door after a short while.

"Well, this is the goodbye point," a new nurse coldly said.

"Ah, okay," Mrs. Akiyama nodded as she looked at her daughter. She began to tear up and immediately hugged Mio. Mr. Akiyama was standing awkwardly, not knowing whether he should join in on the hug or not.

"Get well, okay? Make sure you call the house. We'll visit you on Wednesday," her mother said quickly.

"It's time," her father said.

She kissed Mio on the cheeks and slowly left with her husband. The three nurses disappeared as they wished Mio the best. Mio was standing there, by herself, still forcing her tears not to show.

"Akiyama, Mio?" a new nurse said.

"My name is Miss Aya," she smiled. "Please come with me."

Mio nodded and slowly, barefoot and all, followed her.

"You can sit on the bed."

Mio did what she was told, as always.

"I'm just going to ask you a few questions and then examine you."

Mio nodded and answered all the questions truthfully and felt terribly awkward as Miss Aya checked her body.

"Alright, you can change into these, and you can wear your own clothes by tomorrow," the nurse handed Mio scrubs to change into. "I'll leave you for now to change."

Once the door closed, Mio hurriedly changed into the scrubs only to realize that it brought no warmth whatsoever. She neatly folded the gown that she wore and left it on a chair and was soon given her room to sleep in.

"I have a roommate?" she quickly blurted out once she saw another bed on the other side of the room.

"Yes, so try and get along with her, okay?" Miss Aya said leaving Mio to her demise. She hates meeting new people, not because she hates people but because she doesn't know how to act around them. She began to breathe heavily once again, tearing up.

_I can't do this. _She reminded herself once again. She got on the covers and laid silently, trying to take a peek on her new roommate but to no success she sighed as she faced a new chapter of her life.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I hope I portray the mental illnesses accurately, if anyone has any points or advices on how I could improve them or just have any constructive criticism, I'd be more than happy to listen. **

**Guest: I'm so sorry to hear that. I do hope you get better even though I know it may seem very unlikely at the moment. My friend also suffers from depression and anxiety disorder; she inspired me to write this story. Thank you for reading Sakuragaoka Institution. **

….

The moment Mio woke up, a girl by the name Yui was sitting on her bed, staring adhesively at her. Mio gave a frightful scream and it brought the nurse's attention and one of them ran quickly to her aid.

"Oh, Yui, dear, we don't do that. Now get off of her bed," the nurse carefully touched Yui's shoulder before grabbing it and pulling her away.

"But I need to get my fairy off her!" Yui screamed. "Don't touch me!" She flung her arms in the air as Mio gave her an alarmed look.

"Fairy?" Mio whispered to herself.

"She's a bit over-the-edge," the oversized nurse said. "You have to be patient with her."

"Breakfast will be served in the girl's cafeteria in about an hour, why don't you take a shower while I handle things here?" the nurse said as she took Yui away.

"Okay," Mio obeyed, getting out of her bed. She quickly looked around and found that the room was pretty plain, two beds and two desks on both side of the room with a big rectangular window, locked and secured, with writings on them. Mio found her things on her nightstand and took out her clothes and wandered off to where to bathroom was. In the hallway, she found herself staring at a girl who was sitting on the floor, who looked much younger than her.

"What the fuck do you think you're looking at?" the girl whose name was Azusa said and Mio quickly avoided eye contact.

_This place is nuts. _She thought to herself. She finally found the bathroom at the end of the hallway. There were towels everywhere. She put on a disgusted look on her face and set her clothes on the only chair available after taking all the dirty towels off it. Mio stripped her clothes off and put them on the floor before turning on the shower and quickly yelped at the searing hot water that came out of it. The water finally calmed down and cooled off after a while and Mio was able to relax her tensed shoulder.

She cautiously walked inside the room to see Yui sitting on her desk, immobile. Upon seeing Mio, she began to laugh hysterically. Mio quickly put her dirty clothes away and walked out of the room. She sighed as she reached the nurses' station.

"Phones calls are only allowed twice a day, one in the morning and one in the evening. Would you like to make a phone call?" another nurse said as though she was reciting a line.

_Geez. How many nurses work here? _She thought, seeing new faces every time she turned around.

"I'd like to call the house, please."

"Name?"

"Mio Akiyama."

"Here you go."

Mio grabbed tightly on the phone as it rang.

"Hello?" she heard her mother's voice.

"Mom?"

"Oh, dear! I've missed you, how are you? Did you eat? Did you shower? Did you sleep well? How are things?"

"I just got out of the shower," Mio said. They chatted for a while until the time was up and Mio went to the girl's cafeteria and looked for her seat.

"I'm Mugi, by the way," a blonde girl with thick eyebrows said.

"Mio," she smiled at the thought of finally meeting a normal girl. She giggled to herself.

"What's so funny?" Mugi cocked her head to one side.

"I just…" Mio trailed off. "I just thought that maybe you were normal."

Mugi giggled at the thought of it. "Well, nobody's normal around here, if you haven't noticed." Azusa came barging in and sat next to Mio. Mio stiffened.

"Good morning Azusa," Mugi said.

"Hey," Azusa coldly said. "Sorry 'bout earlier. Didn't mean to curse you off, y'know?"

"It's fine," Mio took a sip of her milk. "No worries."

"Good morning everybody!" Ritsu, another patient of Sakuragaoka Institution, hummed.

"Good morning Ritsu," Mugi said cheerfully. Ritsu looked at Mio as if she was waiting for her reply.

"Ah, good morning," Mio quietly said.

"New on the floor, I perceive?" Ritsu asked, putting on an imaginary Sherlock Holmes hat. She puffed her 'pipe' and blew it on Mio's face. Mio tried to keep a normal appearance and nodded.

"Ritsu, eat your breakfast," Miss Aya said. Ritsu stuck her tongue at her while pulling her lunch tray closer at her. Mio noticed that Ritsu kept fidgeting and squirming on her seat.

"What's wrong with her?" she asked Mugi.

"Oh, she has ADHD. So you never know when she's hyper or impulsive," Mugi whispered.

"Well, what's wrong with you?" Azusa asked.

"Oh, I'm," Mio felt uneasy talking about her problem with other people. "I'm depressed…I guess you can say that."

"Ah, suicidal," Azusa clicked her tongue. "Tough luck, man. Bet you can already guess what's mine." Azusa jokingly said. Mio smiled not knowing whether she should laugh with her or not. She didn't know how to act around with someone who had anger issues.

"Mugi's pretty bad herself," Azusa said. "Having different personality every day."

Mugi tried to smile at Mio who reflected the same action. Yui came dancing in the cafeteria.

"Ah, my fairy!" she scooped up her imaginary fairy above Mio's head and smiled optimistically. "There you are! I've been looking all over for you."

"Sweetheart, eat your breakfast," Miss Aya supervised.

"Yes!" Yui sang as she had some pretty deep conversation with her 'fairy'.

Little did these girls know that meeting each other would completely change their lives. And so, there we have it; five very special and different girls having met one another. Now Mio wondered what's in store for her in that morning.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I know this is a short chapter, I'll be updating very soon!**

**xXxXOuTcAsTXxXx: I am very sorry to hear that, it must be painful for you to have to go through this. But I know people who had been in Institutions before and have come out much stronger. **

**FFReader17: thank you!**

**Abendkater: I'm also sorry to hear that, I do hope that you get through it. Thank you for your review**

….

"Okay guys, it's time for school session," Miss Aya blissfully said. The girls got out of their seat and formed a line, Mio did the same. They walked to another hallway and reached another room and on the front it said 'school' on it. Mio anxiously bit her fingertips. She thought she had escaped the pressure of school by now. Once they entered, Mio looked for her seat and sat down between Azusa and Ritsu.

"Look, Mio, just take your time with this assignment, no pressure. Okay? Even if you don't finish, that's okay. This is just so you don't get left behind in school when you go back," Miss Aya comfortingly talked to Mio.

"Ah, okay," but Mio wasn't convinced; she could feel her heart beating faster already.

"If you have any questions, or if you can't do it, just let me know. And I'll have you do something much easier, okay?"

"Okay," Mio answered. Mio looked at the assignment she had: history.

_Okay. I can't handle this. Breathe. Just breathe._

"The hell with this!" Azusa scowled.

"Azusa, is there a problem?" Miss Aya asked; her voice turned strict.

"Yea, there's a problem. I don't want to do this anymore. Why is there school in such a place like this!" Azusa yelled.

"If you don't want to do it anymore, you can take a break, and I can assign you another assignment," Miss Aya calmly said. "Haven't I explained that before?"

"Yeah, but there's no point at all, this isn't going to make me any better!" Azusa screamed, almost tearing up. "School's not the answer."

Mio started breathing heavily, affected by what Azusa said.

"Look, you're disturbing the other kids, why don't you take a time-out?"

Azusa got up her seat and walked away, leaving the classroom.

"I can't," Mio started saying. "I can't do this."

"Is there something wrong?" Miss Aya's voice turned soft.

"It's just…I can't," Mio couldn't get it out; she started tearing up and eventually started crying.

"Oh, honey," Miss Aya said. "Here, maybe you're not ready for 'school' just yet; do you need to talk to someone?"

"No," Mio sniffed.

"Here, I'll get someone," Miss Aya hurriedly called one of the therapists of the Institution. "Yes, she's not feeling so well. Yes, please."

"I'm fine, I'm just like this all the time," Mio tried to explain, still crying her eyes out. Mugi couldn't help but feel bad for Mio, she wished she could do something for her. As for Yui, she was focused on writing the word 'Watching' on a lined paper repeatedly. Ritsu had a lot of schoolwork on her desk, all unfinished. She was trying to do them all at the same time.

"Mio?" Mr. Sayan looked around the room.

"Here he is, go with him, he'll help you," Miss Aya smiled at her.

"I'm sorry," Mio whispered.

"Aw, don't be," Miss Aya said.

Mio went with Mr. Sayan to another room as Miss Aya advised Ritsu to focus on just one assignment but Ritsu just stuck her tongue at her.

"Tell me what happened."

"I just…." Mio trailed off. "I just can't handle schoolwork."

"Is the pressure too much for you?"

Mio nodded.

"Where is this pressure coming from? Is it from your parents?"

"No, not really, it's more from me."

"Why put pressure on yourself?" Mr. Sayan asked Mio.

"I want _me _to be proud of myself. I want to be good at something," Mio truthfully answered.

"Listen, Mio, the only reason people want themselves to be proud of them is because they lack self-esteem. Did you know that? Well, now we have to work on your self-confidence. What is it that you like about yourself?"

"I don't know."

"Come on, there must be something."

"Well, I don't want to sound conceited."

"Telling what you like about yourself and boasting about it are two different things, you know."

"I like my voice…when I sing," Mio blushed.

"There you go!"

Mr. Sayan sighed. "Depression isn't easy. And a lot of people don't believe in depression existing. And I'm here to tell you that I do believe. And I'm here to tell you that this isn't going to be easy. And it's going to take time. But you are going to get through this. You can handle this. Do you understand?

For some reason, Mio nodded and somewhat believed him. No one had ever spoken to her like that before. No one had ever told her before that she can handle this. All her life she's been telling herself that she can't handle it, now comes a person that tells her she can and maybe soon, she can believe it.


	4. Chapter 4

"Alright guys, it's art time, so grab one piece of paper and utensils and get started!" Miss Aya clapped her hands.

"What's the point of this?" Azusa sighed.

"Well, its called Art Therapy and people believed that by art, people can express their emotion better," Miss Aya explained.

"Seems all crap to me," Azusa said under her breath.

"What are you drawing, Yui?" Mugi asked nicely.

"My fairy!" Yui answered but she was drawing nothing but lines and circles.

"Where? Where?" Ritsu looked over Yui's shoulder.

"Right here!" Yui answered.

"I don't see it!"

"It's right here!" Yui cried.

"That's not a fairy!" Ritsu answered back. "Ah what'cha painting Azusa?"

"The moon."

"Ooh, nice nice," Ritsu bounced to Mio's cat looking figure.

"Thanks," Mio blushed.

"What's your name again?" Ritsu asked Mio, but before Mio could answer Ritsu was already running around the room and Miss Aya told her to sit back down.

"Berry!" Yui cried. "Berry school walks to straw!"

"Huh! " Azusa asked. "Ugh, I hate it when she doesn't make any sense."

"I think she wants strawberries," Mio said.

"Perfect! How'd you know?" Miss Aya asked Mio.

"Oh, I just…I just guessed," Mio said meekly.

"Maybe dinnertime, you can have strawberries, okay?" Miss Aya told Yui.

"Yay!" Yui celebrated.

Mio soon forgot about the incident she had with 'school' time and learned how to get along with Yui and Mugi. Though she is having a hard time still getting along with Azusa, she's still a bit scared of her. With Ritsu, she doesn't know how to approach her since she's always scattered everywhere. Dinner time came and Mugi seemed like another person.

"Mugi?" Mio asked.

"My name's not Mugi. And don't talk to me, I don't talk to stupid people," Mugi glared at Mio. Mio was taken aback at this. Azusa started laughing.

"Don't worry, she's changed to another person, I got so mad at her the first time I heard that too," she explained.

"When will she turn back?" Mio asked.

"No one knows, but it's best if you leave her alone for now," Azusa said.

"Ne, Chari, can I have your cookie?" Ritsu asked.

Mugi, known as Chari, gave Ritsu her cookie.

"She seems to get along with Ritsu just fine, we don't know why," Azusa said.

"Ah," Mio examined their friendship.

"Don't take her seriously, she didn't mean it," Azusa tried comforting Mio.

"Thanks," Mio smiled at her.

Azusa, for the first time in a long time, blushed and said, "You're welcome."

"Medicine time!" Miss Aya announced after they put their trays away. They took their medicine and Mio was reminded that she was as crazy as the others and that there was something wrong with her. Right there, she suddenly felt bad again thinking about missing school and the work she left behind and what her peers and teachers might say once they find out about her being in an Institution. She went straight to bed, missing movie time after dinner. She laid down thinking about her life.

_Am I really cut out for this? _She thought. She began to tear up once again. Then the feeling of emptiness began to reside in her._ My future's not set. I don't know what I want to do after high school. I'm not excellent at anything. I feel like I'm the only one undecided. All my 'friends' have their goals set. Maybe if my life wasn't so complicated. Maybe if I wasn't so weak all the time. _Mio hugged her pillow and cried herself to sleep. She couldn't handle thinking about how her depression was eating her life away. And how she stands there, doing nothing about it. And how it frustrates her how she can't do anything about it because she thinks she's weak. How will she be able to cope with her depression?


	5. Chapter 5

When Mio woke up, her eyes burned and her head hurt.

"Fairy said you've been crying," Yui said. "Is that true?"

Mio looked over at Yui who had her comforter all around her. Mio couldn't help but giggle at the sight of her. Yui looked like an Eskimo with her messy hair and a confused look painted on her face.

Yui, then, joined in laughing with her.

"Well, aren't you guys having fun?" one of the nurses asked. "Well, time to shower, then phone calls, the breakfast, you know the drill."

"Yes!" Yui saluted the nurse.

"Mio!" Yui called for the first time her name and Mio was startled. "Fairy says, fairy says that every day is-is a new day and, and uhm, that, uhm-."

Yui turned to her side and started talking to her Fairy completely forgot about Mio but nonetheless Mio smiled and was happy that Yui tried cheering her up.

Mugi was still 'Chari' and Mio still couldn't talk to her during breakfast time but she completely changed when they all went to meet Mr. Sayan.

"So, how's everyone doing today?"

"Is this session going to take long again?" Azusa asked, already in a bad mood. She had never liked Mr. Sayan, she always thought he was too harsh to be a therapist.

"Well, our sessions are always an hour long unless we're not making progress then I prolong the session," Mr. Sayan explained.

"So, how's everyone doing today?" he repeated himself.

"Good!" Ritsu cried.

"My Fairy's wearing purple today!"

"I'm fine, I guess," Azusa sighed.

"It seems I still can't control myself," Mugi said.

"I'm okay," Mio looked down, remembering their last talk.

"Now, I want all of you to share to each other about school."

"What about school?" Azusa was quick to ask.

"Well, anything, share problems, share anything that made you upset, share something that you like about school, share anything. We'll go around the room, so we'll start with Yui."

"School's great!" Yui said but frowned. "But they would make fun of me and my fairy. They said she doesn't exist."

"Do you think she does?"

"Of course!"

"Why do you think she does?"

"Because I see her!"

"Now we've talked about this, haven't we?" Mr. Sayan said.

Yui sighed and kept quiet. She nodded slowly and bit her lower lip.

"I'm trying not to make you upset, but we have to try for you to live without your fairy," Mr. Sayan said.

Yui started tearing up and then started crying. "I hate you! No! I hate you!"

"Can we have a nurse down here, please?" Mr. Sayan said on the phone and a few minutes a nurse appeared and carefully took Yui away from the group session. Ritsu gulped and stopped running around in circles and sat down, behaving herself.

"Look what you did," Azusa pointed at the door. "You're not supposed to make a patient cry!"

"Yui's a different kind of patient," Mr. Sayan said. "Let's move on, shall we?"

Mio can feel the atmosphere began to tense up. She reached for her sleeves as the cold crept up her arms.

"Mugi?"

"School's fine with me," Mugi began to say. "As long as Chari's not involved."

"Go on," Mr. Sayan said.

"When Chari's involved and I become Mugi again, people look at me differently. They stay away from me. And part of me doesn't mind that but part of me hates that about me. And it's frustrating," Mugi said.

"Have you been meditating?"

"I have, yes," Mugi said. "I've also been taking psychotherapy and cognitive therapy. But the process is so slow that it's so frustrating."

"Yes, the process _is _slow, but the outcome is enormous that you shouldn't be focused on that," Mr. Sayan said.

Mugi nodded her head.

"How about you, Mio?"

"When is it going to be my turn?" Ritsu said under her breath, but she sat in her seat, impatiently waiting for her turn.

"Uhm, school's been stressful on my end," Mio said softly. "I've been trying to maintain my grades at my classes but I've been failing almost every tests and quizzes."

"Is it because you're depressed that's why you're failing or you're failing that's why you're depressed?"

"At this point, I don't think it matters. Since I'm both failing and depressed," Mio pointed out.

Mr. Sayan nodded, taking notes. "Are you taking your medicines?"

"It's not like she can't? We're almost forced to take them every night," Azusa commented but bit her tongue quickly.

Mr. Sayan ignored her comment and went on to Ritsu. "Ritsu, you've been quiet yourself, what's the matter?"

"Oh, nothing!"

"So, what about you, the Great Ritsu? How's school for you?"

"Good! Everyone seem to like me! Except the teachers," Ritsu said.

"I could imagine," Mr. Sayan chuckled.

"Favoritism," Azusa mumbled.

"Have you been behaving yourself?"

"Yes!"

"Good!" Mr. Sayan said.

"Now onto you, Azusa,"

Azusa sighed. "Well, people don't seem to like me and I don't seem to like people. Teachers don't seem to like me and I don't seem to like them either."

"Okay," Mr. Sayan cocked his head, taking some notes once again.

"Have you tried writing?"

"Yes."

"How about some art therapy?"

"Yes, I have."

"How do you like it?"

"It's alright," Azusa rolled her eyes.

"Okay, well keep these options in mind once you're out of the hospital, they will help you."

For a good half an hour, Mr. Sayan went over each one of their symptoms and ways to improve them and ways how to handle each other while being in the Institute with one another.

Lunch time came and Yui wasn't in the cafeteria. It seems that she was having an argument with her Fairy. Mio came to check her out, looking to see if she was okay.

"Yui?" she called out her name as she went inside their room.

"No! I don't want to talk to you! You're not real! You're not real!" Yui sobbed. "You're not real!"

"Oh, Yui," Mio shut the door and came to her and carefully touched her shoulder and placed it on her chest. "It's okay."

Yui sobbed on Mio's shoulder.

"She's not real, is she?"

Mio couldn't answer, she began to tear up as well, she didn't know why.

"If you want, I can be your Fairy," Mio said.

Yui sniffed. "Will you?"

"Mhhm," Mio said. "I'll be your Fairy."

Mio caressed Yui's hair and felt bad for her. "I'll be your Fairy."


End file.
